The Drow Proposal
As the adventurers gather in the main hall in the castle, Azula presents the Duke with her proposal. The drow would provide a battalion to provide protection to the city, as well as food and water to sustain the city in the coming winter. In return, the city would provide trade to and from the Underdark, and thus profiting the drow house. The Duke's councilors argue and debate but the Duke realizes the position his city is in; Agree to the agreement and the city survives; Decline and it might not. He shakes hands with Azula and promises that if the drow betray and injure anyone in the city he will make them pay.
(Trade Agreement)
Meanwhile, the others move about the city, checking in on various people. Junia, at the Happy Cow Tavern, is dealing with refugees that have moved in to her establishment. Many have made makeshift partitions from their meager belongings, providing a little sense of personal space. Junia is busy making more stew from the potatoes that Princess Elora has grown for them. Princess Elora agrees to find a small plot of land nearby and plant some carrots for the hafling.
An Uneasy Feeling At The Tower
Finally, the group finds themselves reassembled back in the Delfen's tower. Messick wakes the young man responsible for the tours of the tower; it's owner, the wizard Delfen still missing. The group moves up the stairs into the library where they see a bleary eyed Eda, still desperately trying to transcribe as many spells as she can before the group moves on. Eda is hesitant to leave such a treasure trove of arcanic knowledge but she agrees with the group that they must move on.Princess Elora feels a shudder of revulsion, similar to the one the day before, when they had encountered the vine-like demon creature. It's twisting of nature abhorrent to her. It is faint and passes but she tells the group that something is still here. She uses Messick's lantern of revealing, moving it's light steadily around the room, but can find no invisible source of her disturbance. It is then that Princess Elora turns the lantern and finds an old woman staring up at her. Princess Elora gives the lantern back to Messick, the old woman clearly not the source of the disturbance, but she is odd in her own right.
A New Addition To The Group
The old woman introduces herself as Shirley Bane. She has watched the group now for the past few days and is intrigued. She proposes that she can help the group with their quest, whatever that might be. She might be old but she still can prove worthwhile. The group looks at her unsure but Messick is quickly won over when the old woman provides a handful of lint covered candies from her pockets and gives them to the half-orc.
They decide that they should move on to Waterdeep. It is the most likely place to start looking for Delfen and where the demons seem to be searching for the orbs of dragonkind, to what end is not quite clear to them yet. But first they must try and speak to Lady Mara. Their last words were not pleasant ones, and this has to be remedied.
The return to the Ducal Castle, now a familiar sight to the young guards. As they enter the castle proper, they ask one of the senior guards the whereabouts of Lady Mara. The guard reassures them that Lady Mara is safe and secure within her quarters. He will not allow them access. Messick, though, convinces him that he believes that she is in grave danger. There are demons about and he is worried that Lady Mara will do something rash.
Lady Mara In Peril
Convinced of the threat, the guard moves quickly up the stairs, the group following close behind, and down the open hallway until they find themselves in front of an ornate set of double doors. The guard knocks loudly and calls through the door that if Lady Mara does not answer the door by the time he counts to ten, he will let himself in. He begins counting loudly, but by the time he is halfway through, his fears get the better of him and he flings the doors open.
Inside the room, are the furnishings of a young noble woman. A large four poster bed sits in the middle of the room, unslept in, it's curtains still tied back to the posts. Fine dressers and tables line the room and a dressing/makeup table catches the eye of the old woman, Shirley. The guard and the others find on the far side the bed, an area of the floor cleared and a large circle of poured salt lying upon the cleared floor. Shirley, uses this distraction to pilfer much of the valuables off of the dressing table quickly, hoping no one witnesses the theft.
The guard exclaims that Lady Mara was clearly taken by a demon and calls for the guards to ring the alarm bells and begin searching for Lady Mara and her attackers. Messick is not so easily convinced. When the Duke arrives, running in a near panic hearing his daughter is missing, Messick turns on the Duke. He chastises the Duke for not keeping a close eye on his daughter, like he warned him. This is his fault. She was clearly disturbed and looking for an easy path to power.
Lady Mara and a Dark Pact
Princess Elora searches the room and finds small bits of what look to be vines near the window. As she scours the rest of the room she comes across a large potted plant. She then begins her ritual to speak to the plant. Asking the plants aura to tell her of what happened in this room recently she gets flashes of images and emotions.
She sees Lady Mara, weeping inconsolably, not allowing anyone in her room, refusing meals and company. Finally, one night as she holds her puppy that Messick had gifted her, she calls out to someone...or something. She begins praying and begging. She then takes the dagger that she had in her hand and draws it slowly, deliberately and deeply across they puppy's neck, killing it almost instantly.
It is not long after that dark green vines begin creeping their way in through the window. It continues faster and faster as the vines bunch up and pile upon each other rising higher and higher until if forms a rough humanoid shape. It speaks with Lady Mara and Lady Mara nods her assent. The creature touches her forehead and begins to creep back out through the window, pulling with it the body of the dead pup. When the room is empty and dark, Lady Mara pulls her hand across her head, passing over her face. As she does so her visage and clothes change into that of one of the servants and she turns and calmly leaves the room and presumably the castle.
When Princess Elora finishes telling the group of what she had seen through the plant, Messick becomes enraged and turns on Gunter. He yells at Gunter that he is responsible for putting those thoughts of demon pacts into her head. If not for him, she would still be here and they might have still been able to show her the way into the adventuring life, she so desired.
Then, with his rage spent, Messick turns his judgment onto himself, taking part of the blame for the fall of poor Lady Mara. He tried to do the right thing. If only...
They decide to leave Daggerford.
Still Infested Tower
Returning to Delfen's castle, they go straight to the 3rd floor, where the teleportation circles were. Once there, Princess Elora feels the shiver of revulsion once again. But the vines are dead; desiccated and brown. But still the feeling persists. Shirley hobbles, staff in hand tapping away on the floor stones, over to the workbench where the mass of dead vines is most accumulated. Moving some of the vines, she sees new growth underneath. She tells the others who move closer to see. Moving the vines has exposed the new growth and the odd pattern it has made on the wall and ceiling where it apparently is coming in from. The growth seems to be entering the tower through small gaps in the stones, which form the shape of a door.
Messick and Azula push hard on each side of the door trying to open it, but it does not budge. Their strength equally matched but not able to move the stone door. The old woman then walks up to it and pushes it gently on one side, and the stone rotates exposing a stairwell on the far side.
A Pod Demon
They move slowly and quietly up the spiraling stone staircase until they come to the top. At the top the stairwell reveals the top of the wizard's tower. A cold grey sky above with drifting occasional small soft snow. Standing in the middle of the tower's roof is a large green creature. Vines grow and emanate from the creatures body and snake across the tower's roof searching for ways into the tower itself. Luckily for the group the creature seems to be standing with it's back to them, staring up into the empty sky.Each of the group prepares, and with a nod, begin to unleash their combined powers. Within seconds, the creature is being ripped apart by giants owls, clouds of daggers, toll the dead and being hexed until it cannot even move. But the demon is not to be defeated so easily.
Pieces of the demon drop off of its body. The pieces shudder and vibrate and then explode in a green acidic spray covering Azula and Shirley. Their bodies drop and their skin hisses and melts with the massive amount of acidic ooze covering them. Princess Elora is ready though and begins her healing totems and soon everyone is back up on their feet attacking the vile demon.
Under the powerful adventurer's combined might the demon quickly is defeated. But the last bit of green bile, the creature drops, forms a mouth and, in its last dying gasps, it laughs at the group and tells them, "she is still ours. You have not saved her." The vines connected to it begin to wither and die; the death spreading rapidly down the vines.
Moving back down the stairs the adventurers gather around the teleportation circle, which Gunter has determined goes to Waterdeep. They stand and look at each other, but growing impatient, Shirley steps in first.
One by one, they all step through.
Into Waterdeep
They all find themselves in a large circular stone room. Large discs of stone stand on edge arranged around the walls of the room. Each has different arcanic markings, teleporations circles to other locations. The one they stepped through still glows with the magic that transported them here.
Leaving that room they find themselves at a large semicircular desk with an elderly gentleman seated on the other side. He greets them formally and welcomes them to Waterdeep. He then tells them that they owe dragons for both the use of the teleportation circle, the entrance tax and the monthly Waterdeep tax. He asks that each of them write their names upon the large leather bound ledger that lays between them on the desk. If they are illiterate then they can thumb press a bit of blood instead. One by one they do, Princess Elora's name and title, Princess Elora Moonlily, bloom of the twilight
flower, heir of the the fairy kingdom, daughter of king Saffron the Just, takes up several lines of the ledge.
When it comes time for Shirley to sign the ledger, she bends down, talking to some creature only she sees, and quickly rises back up, presses her bloody thumb to the ledger, leaving a massive thumb print. Much bigger than her thumb would seem reasonable should leave.
Then Eda is told that she is required to register with the Mage's Guild, in case the city needs to conscript her into action, in times of need. There is no choice in the matter, but she may choose if she wishes to join the Mage's Guild, at a cost, but it would then provide her with all of the resources the guild can offer.
Delfen Was Here
The group asks if a young woman, by the name of Mara, has come through the teleportation circles lately. The man, for a fee, will let them look through the ledger. The find no entry of the name Mara but do notice that about two tenday ago, the entry of Delfen of Daggerford, is entered in the ledger.
Yes, Delfen, a regular, has come into Waterdeep but has not made his way back to the Mage's Guild that he is aware of.
Messick's mind though is excited at the prospect of a massive city. He whispers to the clerk asking where he might find female "entertainment". He is directed to the Dock Ward. They
Finally, bidding them a "Happy Durnan's Birthday" he sends them out of the Mage's Guild building and into the bustling streets of Waterdeep.
Asking about they find a group of youngsters that are willing to show them the way to The Yawning Portal, where they might get a free drink on "Durnan's Birthday". The kids scamper ahead, always within sight showing them the way. Shirley finds that some of the jewelry she had stolen has in turn been stolen by some of these street urchins. Kids will be kids.
The Yawning Portal
Finally arriving at the Yawning Portal, the crowd ever thickening as they draw closer, they enter the tavern. Inside is a massive three building, with all floors open and overlooking the middle of the tavern, where resides a massive hole. The hole is lined with a short wall of stones and a winch system has been erected over top of the hole allowing a people to be lowered down into the Yawning Portal. Currently a rope descends into darkness as the group peeks down the deep dark hole. Even with some of their superior dark vision, they cannot see the bottom.
The group moves about seeing the sights of the odd tavern. A collection of odd paraphernalia line the walls; A lute with it's strings missing; a large clawed hand that seems to still move; a glue glowing crystal shard; a bloodstained map; a sword, pitted and cracked.
Azula moves up to the top floor and in a shadowy corner finds three drow, dressed in sailors garb. She asks them, using drow hand signals, if they know the whereabouts of a certain drow, Jarlaxle Baenre. They laugh. That is their captain. His ship is currently docked here in the city.
Meanwhile, on the main floor, a barrel-chested man sits at a table near the yawning portal, his feet up on the table and a time piece in his hand. He pronounces that it has been ten minutes. The poor lad is certainly done for.
Something Emerges
It is then that they see the rope trash and move. Shouts of excitement go up and several men start to haul on the winch bringing up the rope from below. People move closer and several, along with the adventurers, approach the edge of the hole and look down. At first they see nothing but rope being hauled up and then they begin to make out a figure on the platform that rises up towards them. After that, they notice above the platform, a small figure climbing frantically up the rope. The scale of the image thus changed, they realize that upon the rising platform is a massive creature with the young man scrambling up the rope trying to escape it.The young man, bloodied and scratched climbs up and out of the hole, and seconds later, as the men on the winch let go the rope, a large hand reaches out and grabs the wall on the edge of the hole. The massive hand of the troll pulls the rest of the body up and over the edge and into the tavern. Followed closely behind it is a swarm of small red bird-like creatures with long needle-like beaks. Some of them are already attached to the back of the troll.
Durnan, from behind the bar, yells, "10 dragons to anyone who helps remove this troll from my tavern!". A shout of drunken cheers rises up throughout the tavern as people begin to attack the troll. Most are flung quickly and roughly through the air by the troll.
The group looks at each other and decide to join in. Besides the bird-like stirges begin attacking them. But all it takes is an attack with Princess Elora's thornwhip which pulls the troll back over the edge and plummeting back down the yawning portal, a summoned demon still attacking it all the way down.
The young man who climbed out of the hole, holds on to Eda's cloak and thanks her profusely.
Eda shrugs and tells him to make himself useful and kill these stirges, as she hands him an hand axe.
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